Kiefer Sutherland

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Biography

Kiefer Sutherland (born Keifer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, 21.12.1966) Kiefer Sutherland is a British born, Canadian actor, best known for his role in the FOX TV series 24.

Childhood: Kiefer Sutherland's parents are Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas - both well-respected actors. His grandfather is the Canadian politician Tommy Douglas and Keifer also has Scottish heritage. Keifer and his twin sister, Rachel were born in London, hence he has dual nationality.

Keifer's parents divorced in 1972 and he moved to Toronto with his mother, where he attended a number of different schools and colleges, as well as attending acting lessons at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School on weekends.

When he first moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, he was roommates with Robert Downey Jr.

Acting Career: In 1986, Keifer appeared in his first film, the cult classic Stand By Me, in which he played John 'Ace' Merrill. The film also starred the late River Phoenix, as well as Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton.

His next big hit came with the release of The Lost Boys in 1987. This film has also become a cult favourite and stars Jason Patric, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. The soundtrack to the film also became a hit, featuring the likes of The Doors and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Sutherland also starred in Young Guns and Young Guns II with Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Lou Diamond Phillips.

1990 saw Sutherland starring in the hugely popular Flatliners, directed by Joel Schumacher and co-starring Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon. This was followed, in 1992, by an appearance in the David Lynch film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, with David Bowie and Kyle MacLachlan. Later that year, he featured in a very different film, A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson.

Following the release of the thriller The Vanishing in 1993 (starring Jeff Bridges and Nancy Travis), Sutherland's career took something of a downturn. Few of his film appearances attracted much attention, or acclaim, bar his performance in 1996's A Time To Kill - a John Grisham adaptation starring Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson and Matthew McConaughey.

In 2001, however, Kiefer Sutherland made an impressive comeback when he was cast as the lead character, Jack Bauer, in the FOX television series 24. His performance in the series has earned him the 'Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series' award at the Primetime Emmy Awards. It has been reported that he is now the highest-earning TV actor, raking in a reported $40 million for three seasons of the show. In March 2009, Kiefer Sutherland announced that he would be returning for an 8th season of 24.

Personal Life: Kiefer Sutherland was married to Camelia Kath between 1987 and 1990 and they have a daughter together, Sarah Jude, born in 1988.

In 1990, he announced his engagement to Julia Roberts. A lavish wedding was prepared, but Roberts broke off the engagement three days before the wedding, when she found out that Sutherland had been secretly meeting a stripper, Amanda Rice.

In 1996, Sutherland married Kelly Winn. They separated in 1996 and divorced in 2004.

In 2007, Kiefer Sutherland was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was sentenced to 48 days in jail. In 2009, he gave himself up the police after head-butting a fashion designer, Jack McCollough at a party. The charges against him have since been dropped.

The show sees Sutherland in the fictitious role of US President Tom Kirkman.

When 'Designated Survivor' made its debut on ABC, it didn't hold back with hard-hitting storylines, as an undercover organisation did everything in its power to overthrow the United States government and gain power for themselves. Whilst there's still some of that storyline to be told, the second season of the show will be focusing on something else other than conspiracy upon its return.

With new showrunner Keith Eisner taking the reins, Kiefer Sutherland will return to the leading role of fictional US President Tom Kirkman, who must deal with the fallout of everything that has happened, with the help of his close-knit team and new friend, Hannah Wells (Maggie Q).

When medical student Courtney Homes approaches fellow student Jamie with the an intriguing prospect of 'having fun tonight', Jamie could never have guessed what he was getting himself in for. He accepts the request and Courtney tells him to travel down into the basement facility at midnight.

The time arrives and Jamie is finally made aware of Courtney's plan. She asks Jamie to stop her heart for precisely one minute and then bring her back to the land of the living. Jamie's far from convinced that it's a good idea but hears out her plan anyway. Courtney's obsessed with finding out what happens to humans after we die and she's convinced that she'll be able to track it using some high spec medical equipment able to document brain activity.

Reluctantly Jamie accepts Courtney's proposal and they begin their experiment. She's hooked up to multiple machines and Jamie slows her heart down until it finally makes its last beat. Once Courtney is brought back around she tries to explain what she's experienced and compares it to being in the presence of pure energy. What neither of the students knew was that their little experiment would have a lasting impact of their lives. It appears that Courtney has been given a new gift, she's now able to perfectly play the piano, and the other students involved think that she's been "rewired" and made an even better form of who she previously was.

Will there be another case for Mulder and Scully? Fox hopes so! Fox Chairman Gary Newman announced on Saturday (17th January) that the network is considering rebooting The X-Files. The announcement was made by Fox at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California.

According to sources who spoke with TVLine.com, executives appear to have been buoyed by the positive buzz surrounding the 24: Live Another Day revival and hope to green-light a movie. Imagine Chairman Brian Grazer is said to be particularly keen on the idea, which is yet to be pitched to 20th Century Fox.

This year's Stand Up To Cancer telethon has begun accepting donations ahead of its live showing on September 5th.

Stand Up To Cancer aims to reiterate the point that everyone is connected and everyone can be affected by cancer with their every-two-year telethon which this year features a stellar celebrity line-up including Pierce Brosnan, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston.

Last year, Pierce Brosnon lost his daughter, Charlotte, to Ovarian Cancer

"Simply put, Stand Up To Cancer's goal is to end cancer's reign as a leading cause of death by raising funds to accelerate research that will help transform cancer from a disease that takes far too many lives to one people survive" states the Stand Up To Cancer website. In a bid to remind people that one out of every two men and one out of every three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, the campaign has been running since 2008 with various famous faces offering their own experiences of the disease and support of the cause.

It would seem, then, that actors are often a lot better at their profession than we give them credit for. While viewers watch scenes of love, tenderness, friendship and camaraderie, backstage, certain actors have all sorts of problems with each other.

While at this weekend's Comic-Con in San Diego, Freddie Prinze Jr. offered a controversial explanation as to why he hasn't been seen in the public eye for quite some time, putting the blame on Sutherland.

When Thunder is abandoned into the street by his owner as a kitten during a house move, he finds himself in the home of an eccentric aged magician named Lawrence and his family of friendly mechanical toys on a stormy night which gives him his name. Lawrence takes him on tour performing at parties but it soon becomes clear that he's much more popular than the magician's old pet rabbit, Jack - a fact that doesn't sit well with either Jack or the magician's mouse Maggie. However, the furry team must unite for the sake of Lawrence when trouble arises in the form of his nefarious nephew, who is attempting to sell the large house while Lawrence is away at hospital. Thunder and his new friends decide to try and convince him that the house is actually haunted, with Thunder at the forefront of the ploy. The question is, do Lawrence's unusual family have it in them to save his livelihood?

Jack Bauer is coming back. Basically. At the 2014 Summer TCA Press Tour on Sunday, Peter Price, chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group was quizzed on whether '24' could return for a new season - and it sounds like pretty good news.

Rice said he's "always been a fan" of the show and said he thought the comeback "was fantastic." However, he confirmed that the network hasn't "had a specific conversation about it coming back yet. I'm sure we will in the future. It's a wonderful franchise.

E3 kicks off imminently but Konami got their time zones mixed up - probably - and unleashed the trailer for their highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain early, sending the Internet into overdrive, and then back into… underdrive when they took it down quick-smart. Somewhere, someone is getting told off for this right now.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Photo: Konami

But the World Wide Web isn’t short of savvy users, so even though Konami plan on re-unleashing their all-action trailer shortly, there’s no end of information littered around various website. So here’s what you should know; here’s what we've seen, and what you’ll see later on.